Who are they? What do they look for? How can they help? How much are they likely to invest? These are all key differentiators.

As an entrepreneur looking for funding, it’s important to understand these differences. Your choice of who to approach and when could have a significant effect on the efficiency of your round.

Xavier Ballester, the co-director of Angel Investment Network’s brokerage division, explains more in this recent interview. He’s talking to our friends at Linear, a specialist prime broker and award-winning hedge fund incubator based in London and Hamburg.

Enjoy!

Prefer to digest your content in written format?

I wrote an article on the topic for Angel Investment Network’s Learn centre. You can read it by clicking here.

SEIS and EIS are the given acronyms for the generous tax breaks the UK government offers to investors in startup companies. (Seed) Enterprise Investment Scheme. The company must be UK registered and meet certain eligibility requirements. Eligibility is a great way to incentivize investors because it reduces their risk. Dramatically.

As it’s May the 4th. As in May the Fourth be with you. As in Star Wars Day. I thought it appropriate to share an article I wrote explaining the benefits of SEIS and EIS with a few lame Star Wars puns thrown in. You know, to keep it, well, Light.

**This article is relevant for companies registered in the UK only. However, companies registered outside of the UK may find it useful as there may be similar tax breaks offered by their local government.**

What are SEIS & EIS Tax breaks?

Investing in startup companies is generally much riskier than buying shares in much larger more established companies, although the returns are potentially much larger. As a means of offsetting this risk for investors and thereby incentivising them to invest, the UK government offers two attractive tax breaks known as SEIS and EIS (the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme; and its parent the Enterprise Investment Scheme).

The tax breaks are very generous to investors and have been instrumental in helping the startup industry grow in the UK. As a result, investors now place high value on companies that have qualified for SEIS & EIS.

Because of this, we recommend that all UK companies raising through our platform seek ‘advanced assurance’ for SEIS/EIS if they think they will qualify. As a general rule, if you consider your company early stage then you probably qualify for both, or at least EIS.

What’s SEIS?

HMRC gives the following overview:
“…[SEIS] is designed to help small, early-stage companies raise equity finance by offering tax reliefs to individual investors who purchase new shares in those companies.”

Startups who qualify will be eligible to offer up to £150,000 in SEIS shares to investors.

What are the principal benefits for investors?

SEIS is incredibly generous and investors will get 50% tax relief per tax year on investments up to £100,000. (Relief is given each year, but the shares must be held for at least 3 years)

Investors will also get Capital gains exemption on the disposal of assets

There is a ‘carry back’ facility which allows investors to treat shares as if they were acquired in the previous tax year. Hence the relief can be claimed for the tax year before the investment.

Example:

Angel Investor Skywalker invests £100,000 into ‘Force for Good’, a ground-breaking social enterprise startup which qualifies for SEIS. For the given tax year, Skywalker has a tax liability of £50,000. Because of his SEIS shares he gets 50% of the value of his investment in relief, so £50,000.

This means he pays £0 in tax rather than the £50,000 he owes in tax. This situation is irrespective of how well the company does.

If the company does well, Skywalker would also qualify for exemption from Capital Gains tax (up to £100,000) on the profit provided it is reinvested.

If the company folds, Skywalker will still receive his £50,000 in tax relief meaning only half his initial investment of £100,000 is at risk. When the company folds, he will also be given loss relief of 45% of the ‘at risk’ capital. 45% of £50,000 is £22,500.

So if the company folds, Skywalker will only have lost £27,500 even though he invested £100,000. That’s relief of 72.5%!

Does your company qualify?

N.B. These tax breaks are only available to UK based companies; investors do not need to be UK resident but must have some UK tax liability against which to set the tax relief.

For a company to qualify for the SEIS scheme it must meet a number of qualification tests. The list below is not comprehensive as the rules in place are often quite detailed and nuanced, but it gives a helpful, broad picture:

Permanent UK Base- your company must have a permanent UK office or the owner must be a UK resident. This must remain the case for three years from when SEIS shares are issued.

Your company must not be listed on the stock exchange at the time the SEIS shares are issued.

Your company must have fewer than 25 full-time employees at the time the SEIS shares are issued.

The gross assets must not exceed £200k at the time the SEIS shares are issued.

Your company must be early stage in that it must not be continuing a trade that is more than two years old at the time the SEIS shares are issued.

Your company must not have raised money through EIS or VCT schemes in the three years prior to the SEIS share issue.

The funds raised must be spent within three years.

Your company must be independent i.e. it must not be controlled by any other company or anyone associated with that company.

Your company must not be a member of a partnership

To get formal approval of SEIS eligibility you need to fill out an SEIS1 form and send it to HMRC. Download the form and the notes here.

EIS

What’s EIS?

EIS is the parent of SEIS. The principle is the same – to encourage investors to invest in early stage companies by offering them a generous tax break based on the sum they invest.

When the scheme was launched in 1993 the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Michael Portillo, said;

“The purpose of Enterprise Investment Schemes is to recognise that unquoted trading companies can often face considerable difficulties in realising relatively small amounts of share capital. The new scheme is intended to provide a well-targeted means for some of those problems to be overcome.”

EIS is less generous in terms of relief but it is easier for companies to qualify for and there is a larger quota available for eligible companies to offer investors.

Startups are able to offer up to £2,000,000 in EIS shares.

What are the benefits for investors?

Can invest up to £1,000,000 a year in EIS shares.

Investors will get 30% tax relief per tax year

Any gain is exempt from Capital Gains tax provided the shares have been held for at least 3 years.

Loss relief via tax liability upon disposal of shares for a loss

Capital gains tax on assets can be deferred if the gain is re-invested in EIS shares

‘Carry back’ facility so the shares can act as tax relief for the previous tax year

Example:

For the given tax year, Vader has a tax liability of £50,000. Because of his EIS shares he gets 30% of the value of his investment in relief, so £30,000. This means he pays £20,000 in tax rather than the £50,000 he owes in tax. This situation is irrespective of how well the company does.

If the company folds, Vader will still receive his £30,000 in tax relief meaning only £70,000 of his initial investment is at risk. When the company folds, he will also be given loss relief of 45% of the ‘at risk’ capital. 45% of £70,000 is £31,500.

So if the company folds, Vader will only have lost £38,500 even though he invested £100,000. That’s relief of 61.5%!

Does your company qualify?

To qualify for EIS your company must satisfy the following criteria:

Permanent UK Base- your company must have a permanent UK office or the owner must be a UK resident. This must remain the case for three years from when EIS shares are issued.

Your company must not be listed on the stock exchange at the time the EIS shares are issued.

Your company must have fewer than 250 full-time employees at the time the EIS shares are issued.

The gross assets must not exceed £15 million at the time the EIS shares are issued.

The funds raised must be spent within three years.

Your company must be independent i.e. it must not be controlled by any other company or anyone associated with that company.

Your company must not be a member of a partnership

The full criteria and guidance on how to apply for advanced assurance can be found here on the HMRC website here.

Summary:

If you’re an early stage company registered in the UK and you’re raising money, you really should get advanced assurance for both SEIS and EIS. It can seem a little complicated, but in effect, all you need to do is submit the correct forms to HMRC and let them work out if you qualify.

You can be sure that all your competitors will be doing it – investors are far more likely to invest in an early stage company if they have the guaranteed risk mitigation that SEIS and EIS offer.

This article was originally written by Oliver Jones for Angel Investment Network‘s Learn centre. You can view the original and other similar articles covering all topics related to startup fundraising and investment here.

This morning I read a great post by Venture Spring. Venture Spring is a hugely well respected ‘venture development’ company which “helps Fortune 500 companies innovate like startups” according to their company mantra. The article is about the differences between venture capital funding and funding from angel investors.

Startups are often all too eager to take one option over the other based on their own preconceptions. It’s important to realise that one may be more suited to one type of startup over another (and vice versa. So, understanding the points of difference could be crucial to the way in which you approach your fundraise; and how your company ends up being run down the line. So it’ll be worth your while familiarising yourself with the key points…

You can read the full article on their site here. (It’s a 5-10 min read).

Or, I’ve summarised the key differences for you here and (added in a few that they missed!):

Angel Investors:
– are private individuals investing their own money
– can make quick decisions regarding investment
– can be flexible in the amount they invest
– can provide expertise, contacts and support as well as capital
– can feel personally attached to your business
– can be as hands-off or hands-on as you require
– can qualify for tax breaks like SEIS and EIS
– do not have to be given board positions

Venture Capital Firms:
– are whole companies that invest in startups
– are run by professional investors investing money from corporations, individuals, funds and foundations
– take board positions and have a strong say in how the company is managed and grown going forward
– invest much larger amounts than angel investors
– do not usually invest at seed stage
– generally invest not less than £1million
– take a longer time to make investment decisions and broker deals

What’s your take on the issue? Do you have any experiences you’d like to share? Comment below or hit me up on Twitter…

Last Tuesday we held our first fundraising event of the year at the Olswang offices in Holborn. Treated to a complimentary feast of canapés and drinks on the top floor, investors enjoyed pitches from 7 of the hottest UK startups.

James Badgett, Founder of Angel Investment Network, opened the proceedings by calling to mind some of the notable successes from companies who pitched through us in 2015 as well as the general growth of our site.

SuperAwesome, a child-safe marketing platform, completed a funding round with us at a valuation of $3million and subsequently completed a $7million raise at a valuation of $25million. They are now raising at a valuation of $70-100million. That’s a potential return for our investors of 20-30 times in a little over a year!

What3Words, an extraordinary piece of software that’s changing the world’s address system and for whom we filled the seed round, recently received $2million from Intel Capital. They also won the Innovation Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Acquisitions:
As covered in a previous blog post, Uncover were acquired by Velocity resulting in strong, quick returns for our investors.

Draper & Dash, a high-end business intelligence company with an absurdly impressive track record, and PASSNFLY, an innovative airport check-in application, are both under offers for acquisition.

After this introduction, it was fascinating to observe the investors sit forward in their seats and treat the latest cohort of entrepreneurs pitching to their undivided attention!

The future is certainly looking rosy for both investors and entrepreneurs…

The study is being conducted by Tiago Botelho and Prof Colin Mason from the University of Glasgow’s Adam Smith Business School, and should allow us to see how our members see syndication in general and how we can improve our network.

We’d be really grateful if any UK angel investors could take the time to complete the survey (it is completely anonymous and should take around 10 minutes).

Angel investors have been playing a pivotal role in the American economy for almost half a century, particularly in shaping up the technology industry. Silicon Valley, for instance, has been built and developed by and on the foundations laid by many angel investors. All major tech giants today were start-ups at one point in time.

This infographic shows the Top 5 US Angel Investors of 2013. Between them, they have invested in more than 700 start-ups so far, out of which more than 150 were in 2013 alone.

CB Insights, in conjunction with Silicon Valley Bank and the Angel Resource Institute, recently released the 2013 year-end Halo Report. The full 27-page angel investing report includes breakdowns by industry and geography as well as valuation trends. In addition, the report includes a ranked list of the top 10 most active angel groups in 2013.

To download the entire 27-page 2013 year-end Halo Report, login here. The underlying angel investment data is also available and proprietary to CB Insights. (note: the report is available to anyone with a free CB Insights login)

High Valuation Deals on the Rise. While 2013 median angel deal valuations held consistent with last year at $2.5M, the top quartile of angel deals carried valuations of $4.2M or greater. This represents a stronger showing at the top versus 2012.

Golden Seeds is #1. Golden Seeds topped the leader board for most deals completed in 2013 – up from 5th place in 2012. Meanwhile the 2012 winner, New York Angels, fell to the 7th spot in 2013.